The operation of an oven appliance necessarily generates a large amount of heat. One or more gas and/or electric heating elements located in the cooking chamber provide heat not only for cooking but also for cleaning operations as well. For example, typically an oven appliance will be provided with a cleaning cycle where temperatures in the oven can reach over 800° F.
While oven appliances come in a variety of configurations, including stand-alone (aka free-standing), frequently they are designed for placement within cabinetry or some other enclosure built into a kitchen space. Frequently, such cabinetry or other enclosure is constructed from wood or a wood-based product. Proper cooling of the oven is required to e.g., prevent a dangerous condition where the oven might create unacceptable exterior temperatures.
Ovens are frequently provided with one or more cavities or ventilation ducts positioned outside of the cooking chamber and typically within the cabinet of the appliance. These ducts are used to direct a flow of air—i.e. ventilation—through the appliance so as to cool the appliance, particularly during high temperature operations such as self-cleaning. Such ducts may be provided in a variety of configurations on one or more sides of the appliance including the top and bottom.
Some oven appliances have conventionally relied upon convection to provide a movement of air through the ducts that cools the appliance. The size of such air ducts can be increased where higher temperatures are expected. Unfortunately, the space provided for the air ducts typically comes at the expense of cooking space in the cooking chamber. For example, the overall size of oven appliances is generally standardized due to cabinetry sizes and other restrictions. Increasing the cross-section or volume of the ducts necessarily decreases the size of the cooking chamber.
As a result, oven appliances are commonly provided with a fan or blower to provide a forced air flow through the ducts or ventilation system of the appliance. Such forced air flow improves the cooling ability of the appliance and can allow for a reduction in the size of the ducts, vents, and the like that would otherwise be necessary if only natural convection were relied upon for cooling.
Where a fan is employed, it is important to ensure that the fan is actually operating so as to provide an air flow through the ventilation system. However, simply determining whether power is being provided to the fan or e.g., measuring whether the fan is drawing a current or e.g. measuring the RPM of the fan may not ensure that air flow through the ventilation system is occurring and, even if it is, whether the rate of air flow is sufficient to provide the amount of cooling required. For example, the fan could be consuming power and yet malfunctioning for some reason. If vent ducts on the appliance are blocked or clogged for some reason, air flow may be insufficient even if the fan is operating at the proper RPM.
Accordingly, an oven appliance having a fan that provides for cooling during cooking or cleaning operations would be useful. Such an oven appliance that also includes a system for determining whether a sufficient flow of air through the ventilation passages is occurring during oven operation would also be beneficial. An oven appliance that can also take one or more remedial actions in the event the flow of air is insufficient for properly cooling the oven would be particularly useful.